Neste Oil to build biopropane unit at refinery in Rotterdam

Neste Oil is to build a biopropane unit at its refinery in Rotterdam. In addition to the unit itself, the investment will include storage tanks and pipework. The project will start immediately and the plan is to begin sales of biopropane at the end of 2016. The total value of the investment is approximately EUR 60 million.

The new unit will purify and separate biopropane from the sidestream gases produced by the refinery. The process will increase the added value of this sidestream significantly, as the gas in question has been sold as fuel for power plant use up until now. When the new unit is complete, biopropane production is expected to total 30,000-40,000 t/a. Biopropane has a comparable set of properties to fossil propane and is suitable for use in existing liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) applications.